1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a window type air conditioner, and more particularly to a temperature sensor fixing apparatus of an air conditioner for conveniently detecting temperature of room air infused through a suction grill member of a front panel by improving fixation of a temperature sensor.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In general, a conventional window type air conditioner includes a vaporizing unit installed at the front portion of a base panel for heat-exchanging the infused room air to cool the air, a blade frame mounted at one lateral upper end of the vaporizing unit for partitioning and discharging the cool air heat-exchanged by passing through the vaporizing unit and a control box assembled at the lower portion of the blade frame for controlling operations of the product and accommodating electronic parts.
The vaporizing unit and blade frame are coupled with an internal case secured at the top surface thereof. The control box is coupled with a lateral surface of the vaporizing unit and a lower surface of the blade frame. A plurality of vertical blades are installed inside the blade frame for horizontally controlling air flow which has been heat-exchanged and discharged through all area of the blade frame.
On the other hand, an external panel is mounted on the base panel for forming an external appearance of the product by covering all of its sides except its front side, wherein a plurality of infusing holes are formed on both sides of the external panel for getting the outside air to be infused into the product. A front panel covers the front portion of the external panel for fanning its front appearance of the product with inflow and outflow of room air.
The front panel includes a suction inlet at an area corresponding to the vaporizing unit for allowing a suction grill member to be attached or detached and a discharging outlet at an area corresponding to the blade frame for discharging the heat-exchanged air out of the product and a through hole at an area corresponding to the control box.
Furthermore, the suction grill member is inserted at the suction inlet, allowing attachment and detachment thereof. On the other hand, a plurality of horizontal blades are vertically installed in a predetermined interval for controlling vertical flow of the room air discharging out through all area of the discharging outlet, allowing their vertical movements.
In addition, a compressor is installed at one middle portion of the base panel for compressing circulating coolant to the coolant of high temperature and high pressure to be supplied into the vaporizing unit. An external case is installed at rear portion of the base panel for supporting a condenser (not shown). A plurality of brackets are coupled at the upper inner surface of the external panel for keeping constant a predetermined horizontal interval set between external case and internal case.
A temperature sensor is fixed at the front side of the vaporizing unit with a separate sensor holder. The vaporizing unit includes two supporting plates vertically oriented at a predetermined interval, a plurality of plate fins horizontally stacked in parallel at a predetermined interval between the supporting plates, a plurality of coolant tubes penetrated through the sides of two supporting plates and plate fins and arranged at a predetermined interval and a plurality of return pipes protruded out of the supporting plates for respectively connecting a pair of ends of the coolant tubes to form a coolant pass line.
The sensor holder includes an inserting piece inserted between plate fins of the vaporizing unit, a inserting groove formed at the inserting piece for being coupled by being forcibly fit to an external periphery of the coolant tube, a protection plate integrally and perpendicularly curved with the inserting side for keeping the temperature sensor from getting into contact with the vaporizing unit and a fixing protruder, which is L-shaped, at one front side of the protection plate with its top being kept open for getting only the electric wire to be forcibly inserted.
In consequence, there is a problem in the temperature sensor fixing apparatus of the air conditioner thus constructed in the prior art in that the sensor holder detachably fixed at one front side of the vaporizing unit has been used for fixing the temperature sensor by connecting between control box and wire, thereby resulting in high cost for molding the sensor holder as an additional part.
In addition, in case of the sensor holder, the inserting piece protruded to the rear thereof is inserted between those plate fins of vaporizing unit, and then the inserting groove fanned at the inserting piece is forcibly fitted at the external periphery of the coolant tube for fixation. Therefore, when the sensor holder is fixed at the vaporizing unit with slight pressing force, the plate fins of thin aluminum plate is easily deformed to cause a defective product. When the inserting groove is fitted to the coolant tube, plate fins disturb convenient matching of the two parts, causing a trouble in correctly recognizing the position for insertion of parts and significantly decreasing job efficiency and productivity.
Furthermore, the protection plate positioned at the front portion of the sensor holder is constructed to be tightly attached to the vaporizing unit. If the electric wire connected with the temperature sensor at the fixing protruder of the protection plate is loosely fixed, the temperature sensor may not remain within the front area of the protection plate, diverting out and easily getting in contact with the surface of the vaporizing unit causing false operations.
Examples from the conventional art of air conditioners having temperature sensors are seen in the following U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,911, to Arai, entitled Air Conditioner, describes an air conditioner having a suction grill and a front panel including an inlet port for sucking air from the suction grill inside, with a concave air passage for room temperature detection fanned in the front face of the front panel and an air suction port for sucking air formed at an opposite part to the air passage. A temperature sensor is mounted in the concave air passage.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,732,565 and 5,622,058, both to Ramakrishnan et al., and both entitled Modular Room Air Conditioner, describe an air conditioning unit having an indoor temperature control thermistor mounted to a panel next to the evaporator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,778, to Bolton et al., entitled Thermostat Capillary Installation On A Room Air Conditioner, describes an air conditioner having a thermostat capillary mounted in close proximity to the inside face of the indoor heat exchanger of a room air conditioner. The indoor heat exchanger includes a flat surface adapted to receive a flow of air, and having a pair of tube sheets at opposite ends. The tube sheet adjacent to the capillary has a recess formed to receive the capillary.
Based on my reading of the art, then, I have decided that what is needed is an improved fixing apparatus for a temperature sensor of an air conditioner which does not suffer from the above described problems.